"Ahhhhh! What the hell?" Silas' eyes snapped open as he yelled in confusion.
For several seconds, he couldn't understand what he was looking at. Everything around him appeared distorted, his vision warped by the strange clear liquid surrounding his body.
Silas tried to move and immediately realized he was suspended inside a large glass container.
A tube was connected to his mouth and nose, allowing him to breathe despite being completely submerged.
His body felt strange.
It was heavy and weak. This was a strange feeling, his body felt almost disconnected from his control.
Silas forced himself to remain calm and looked around the unfamiliar room.
Machines surrounded the glass container, several producing quiet beeping sounds while others displayed information that Silas couldn't read from his current position.
He felt like a test subject in the weapon X program from the marvel universe and it made him very concerned.
"Have I been captured and now I'm being experimented on?"
For a moment, alarm began to rise within him.
Silas contemplated using his powers to bust out of the container but before the thought fully formed, he noticed the familiar giant red R insignia displayed across several of the machines.
He was a Team Rocket member so that giant R usually meant that he was safe unless someone was targeting him again. However, Silas ruled that out considering the mission he undertook before falling in battle.
Silas immediately breathed a mental sigh of relief.
At the very least, he hadn't been captured by the Luminary Court or some unknown organization.
That still left some important questions
How the hell did he get here? Who brought him here? Where were his Pokémon?
"Hermes, what happened?"
Hermes' familiar voice immediately responded inside his head.
"I believe you are referring to everything that has occurred since you became unconscious. Unfortunately, I can only see and hear what you can, so I cannot answer that question. However, I can say that you have been unconscious for almost 10 weeks."
Silas froze.
"What the hell? How has it been that long?"
10 weeks, nearly 3 months. Silas immediately groaned like he felt an aching pain. Now that he confirmed he was relatively safe, he began thinking about his overall situation.
Of all the possible reactions someone might have after discovering they had been unconscious for that long, the first thought to enter Silas' mind was how much training time he had wasted.
10 weeks could have resulted in tremendous progress.
Then another thought struck him.
He needed to locate his Pokémon immediately, Silas wouldn't feel secure until he confirmed their safety.
Silas instinctively tried to gather his psychic power before remembering where he was.
Any Rocket facility important enough to contain equipment like this would almost certainly have measures suppressing psychic abilities.
Psychics were troublesome to deal with, particularly because of their ability to teleport themselves and others instantaneously. Team Rocket's countermeasures were a necessary inconvenience.
So, he tried to circulate his aura instead.
The moment he attempted to gather the power within himself, intense pain exploded through his head. It felt like a grenade went off inside his skull.
"Ugh!" Silas cried out in agony as pain spread throughout his body.
Silas immediately stopped trying to use his aura powers.
Even that tiny attempt left him dizzy so he knew that any more attempts would likely leave him unconscious.
Hermes spoke again.
"Please note that your output during the last battle was far beyond your normal capacity. As a result, your aura was damaged. It has since been repaired for unknown reasons, but it will take several days before you can safely use your powers again and approximately 2 weeks before you return to 100%."
Silas stared blankly through the glass.
"Damn. I really screwed up big time. How could I have sacrificed myself like that?"
Since coming to this world, Silas proudly considered himself selfish with his own life. It was the only way to survive in such a cruel Darwinist world. And yet, he still sacrificed himself for a mission like some dutiful soldier.
He remembered pushing both his psychic power and aura far beyond what he normally considered safe.
At the time, his body just moved and he didn't have the time to be worrying about the consequences.
However deep down, he knew he made the right choice. If he hadn't, then both he and his superior would have died in the battle for sure.
Before Silas could think about it any further, the door to the room suddenly swung open.
A well-endowed young woman with scarlet hair entered alongside a Blaziken.
Silas immediately recognized her.
It was the beautiful Andra.
She hadn't noticed that he was awake so he kept his body still and closed his eyes. He slightly opened them so he could see without drawing any attention.
"I don't know when he's going to wake up. I am so worried, but luckily Master Ebon and Viper have taken good care of him. Otherwise, he might have died already."
Blaziken gently comforted its trainer.
"I just hope he wakes up soon. Odin is one of the few rockets that ruthless but still trustworthy enough to work with."
The normally confident woman looked genuinely worried, and Silas could immediately tell that the concern wasn't forced.
Andra seemed to sense something and finally glanced toward the glass container. Her her eyes widened at the sight.
She rushed toward Silas.
"When did you wake up?"
This girl was too perceptive, she sensed his gaze immediately.
Silas opened his mouth before remembering that he was currently breathing through a tube.
Andra realized the same thing.
"Oh, that's right. I can't hear you, but you can hear me. I'll go get a doctor."
She hurried out of the room before Silas could respond.
A short while later, she returned alongside a woman wearing a lab coat with a large red R printed across the chest.
The doctor immediately moved toward one of the computers connected to Silas' container.
Her fingers moved quickly across the controls as several scans appeared across the monitors.
She pulled up several diagrams that Silas couldn't understand and studied them for a moment.
"It seems his vital signs have made tremendous progress."
Andra's face lit up with excitement and in that moment, Silas felt his heart melt at her genuine and warm smile.
"What does that mean? Will he make a full recovery?"
"We can remove the restraints and move him to a more open pool. As for his recovery, that is up to his own luck but judging from his current state, he will fully recover as long as he takes the rehab seriously. "
The woman opened a communication device and made a call.
Not long afterward, 2 Machoke and a Gardevoir entered the room.
The Gardevoir used its psychic power to carefully support Silas' body while the Machoke handled the physical equipment around him.
The process was surprisingly smooth.
Silas barely felt any discomfort as they removed him from the healing vat and transported him into another room.
There, they lowered him into a large pool.
Silas looked around curiously.
The space reminded him somewhat of the environment where he had first met Drapion, except this obviously wasn't a prison.
The pool was large enough for Silas to stand and walk around freely, and the surrounding area appeared designed specifically for rehabilitation.
The doctor approached the edge.
"Odin, welcome back. For the next few days, get reacclimated with your body. After that, we will get you started on physical therapy so you can return to action as soon as possible."
Silas slowly moved his arms beneath the water.
Everything felt stiff but the liquid helped a lot.
Even simple movements required more effort than they should have.
"Thank you for the hard work, ma'am."
"No worries. Your contributions last time were massive. I should be thanking you!"
Silas looked at her.
"What do you mean? Sorry, my memory is a little hazy."
Although he remembered how he had gotten hurt, many of the surrounding details still felt hazy.
The doctor seemed slightly surprised.
"Lord Ebon credited you with saving his life at the risk of your own. He said you made the tactical decision to save the strongest fighter, and because of that, the success of the mission and the subsequent missions can be linked to your sacrifice."
Silas' expression changed.
The memory suddenly returned.
The raging Sandstorm and tha enormous spear of compressed sand. He remembered the feeling of it tearing through his stomach.
Silas instinctively placed a hand over the area where the wound had been. He now had a scar where the spear entered his body.
"I guess I did help a bit, but damn, I almost lost my life, that was the closest I've been to death in a long time."
Silas sighed before remembering something much more important.
"Miss, can you tell me where my Pokémon are?"
"The reason you were moved to this large open space was so all your Pokémon could fit. I've already notified your friends, and they will soon be here along with your Pokémon."
Silas visibly relaxed.
"Thanks. I imagine my recovery had a lot to do with you. Much appreciated. Words cannot express my gratitude."
The doctor smiled slightly.
"Your thanks should be directed at Miss Andra here too. She played a big part in your care while you were unconscious."
Immediately, her face became a similar color to her crimson hair as she smiled awkwardly. She then tried to downplay the situation.
"It was nothing, I just did what anyone would do."
Silas turned toward Andra.
"Andra, thank you for helping me out. I'll find a way to make it up to you."
Silas winked as he said it.
Andra stared at him for a second before rolling her eyes but deep down she was secretly pleased.
"Since you have the energy to make jokes, I guess you really are feeling better."
"Apparently, in large part because of you. Also, I want to thank you for letting me wake up to such a nice sight."
The doctor began to laugh, hearing the exchange.
"Oh to be young!"